Bernie Madoff ordered to forfeit more than $170 billion

NEW YORK -- Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff has been ordered to forfeit over $170 billion, prosecutors said Friday.

U.S. District Judge Denny Chin entered a preliminary order of forfeiture Friday, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Lev Dassin. The order forces Madoff to give up his interests in all property, including real estate, investments, cars and boats.

The Associated PressBernard Madoff, right in a file photo from March, must give up interest in all property - including real estate, investments, cars and boats.

According to earlier court documents, prosecutors reserved the right to pursue more than $170 billion in criminal forfeiture. That represents the total amount of money that could be connected to the fraud, not the amount stolen or lost.

The government also settled claims against Madoff's wife, according to Friday's order. Under the arrangement, the government obtained Ruth Madoff's interest in all property, including more than $80 million of property to which she had claimed was hers, prosecutors said.

The order makes it clear, though, that nothing precludes other departments or entities from seeking to recover additional funds

The agreements strip the Madoffs of all their interest in properties belonging to them, including homes in Manhattan, Montauk, and Palm Beach, Fla., worth a total of nearly $22 million.

Federal prosecutors want Madoff to be sentenced to 150 years in prison. He is due in court on Monday for sentencing in his massive fraud case.